Austrian soldier, born in Vienna. He
joined the Nazi Party in 1930, was mobilized into the SS, and fought in
France, Serbia, and Russia (1939--43). He was noted for his commando-style
operations in World War 2. He freed Mussolini from internment in a
mountain hotel on the Gran Sasso Range (1943), and abducted Horthy, the
Regent of Hungary (1944), but failed to capture Tito. During the German
counter-offensive in the Ardennes (1944), he carried out widespread
sabotage behind Allied lines. He was tried at Nuremberg as a war criminal,
but was acquitted (1947).